Transferring multiple communication modalities during a conversation

Abstract

A conversation may be established using any supported type of communication modalities, including voice, video, desktop sharing, IM, application sharing , and the like. During the conversation, a user may transfer all or part of the modalities of the conversation at the same time to one or more destinations. The transfer may specify mandatory and non-mandatory modalities and may occur supervised or in a blind manner. In addition to transferring the modality, a conversation payload (e.g. IM history) may also be transferred to a destination.

1 . A method for transferring modalities of a conversation over an Internet Protocol (IP) network, comprising:
 establishing a conversation over the IP network including different modalities between a transferee and a transferor;   using a processor to determine when to transfer the different modalities used in the conversation;   determining at least one transfer target to transfer the different modalities of the conversation; and   transferring each of the different modalities to the determined transfer target.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the different modalities of communication comprise at least two of the following modalities: a voice modality; an Instant Messaging modality; a video modality; an application sharing modality, and a desktop sharing session. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein transferring the different modalities to the transfer target comprises performing a supervised transfer of at least one of the different modalities transferred. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising transferring a conversation payload for a modality that is transferred, wherein the conversation payload is data used during the established conversation. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the conversation payload transferred is an IM history when an IM modality is transferred. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising terminating each of the transferred modalities within the established conversation after the modality is transferred. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein terminating each of the transferred modalities within the established conversation after the modality is transferred comprises terminating only successfully transferred modalities. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising specifying a modality of the conversation to be a mandatory modality and transferring the mandatory modality before attempting to transfer the other modalities of the conversation. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising receiving selections of the transfer target and the different modalities of the conversation to transfer through a user interface. 
     
     
         10 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions for transferring modalities of a conversation over an Internet Protocol (IP) network, comprising:
 establishing a conversation over the IP network including at least two different modalities between a transferee and a transferor;   determining when the to transfer the different modalities of the conversation to one or more transfer targets;   transferring the different modalities from the transferor to the determined transfer target;   receiving at the transferor a notification indicating a result of the transfers of the modalities; and   terminating the modalities upon receiving the notification indicating the result of the transfers is successful.   
     
     
         11 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 10 , wherein the different modalities of communication comprise at least two of the following modalities: an Instant Messaging modality; a video modality; a desktop sharing modality, and an application sharing modality. 
     
     
         12 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 11 , wherein transferring the different modalities from the transferor to the transfer target comprises supervising the transfer. 
     
     
         13 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 11 , further comprising transferring a conversation payload for at least one of the modalities that is transferred; wherein the conversation payload includes data saved during the established conversation between the transferor and the transferee. 
     
     
         14 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 11 , further comprising specifying a modality of the conversation to be a mandatory modality and when the transfer of the mandatory modality is unsuccessful returning the conversation to a state of the conversation before the transfer attempt. 
     
     
         15 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 11 , further comprising receiving selections of the transfer target and the different modalities of the conversation through a user interface. 
     
     
         16 . A system for transferring modalities of a conversation over an Internet Protocol (IP) network, comprising:
 a network connection that is configured to connect to the IP network;   a processor and a computer-readable medium;   an operating environment stored on the computer-readable medium and executing on the processor; and   a transfer manager operating under the control of the operating environment and operative to:   determining when the to transfer different modalities of an established conversation on the IP network to one or more transfer targets;   transferring the different modalities to the transfer target;   receiving for each transferred notification a result indicating a success or a failure of the transfer for each of the modalities; and   terminating the modalities for each transferred modality within the established conversation.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the different modalities of communication comprise at least two of the following modalities: an Instant Messaging modality; a video modality; and an application sharing modality. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein transferring the different modalities from the transferor to the transfer target comprises supervising at least one transfer of the different modalities. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 16 , further comprising transferring a conversation payload for at least one of the modalities that is transferred; wherein the conversation payload includes data saved during the established conversation between the transferor and the transferee. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 16 , further comprising a display that is configured to display a user interface that receives selections to determine the transfer target and the different modalities of the conversation to transfer.